Whatever it takes! (Judges 12.1-7, NYE Dec. 2021)
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The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down over you!”
Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were engaged in conflict with the Ammonites who oppressed us severely. But when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand.
When I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hand, and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day, to fight against me?”
Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives from Ephraim, you Gileadites—in the heart of Ephraim and Manasseh.”
Then the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. Whenever one of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,”
they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites fell at that time.
Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in his town in Gilead.
Intro:
(Barrel dealing with Overcoming Adversity)
“ if you’re not in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”
T. S. Elliot
…..and I think that whenever adversity measures to be taller than our tolerance levels
……….our intentionality sets the tone for our life outcomes!
(pause and expound on desire to fight through)
Look at it now......
Jephtah has an extraordinary life story that is jam packed with adversity in this scripture......
He is the son of a prostitute.
……….and so there has to be some adversity in the area of self worth
He was rejected by his brothers.
……and so there has to be some adversity in the area of esteem and belonging
After he was rejected, Israel got in trouble and wanted to call him back home to be their commander.
……….and so now I would presume that he is suspended between this tension of abandonment and allegiance.
How do I convince myself to help the same people who threw me away?
And if that was not enough……..
He makes a vow to God to win a battle against the Ammonites, and has to sacrifice his only daughter as a result of the promise he made to God.
(pause)
And so.....
If anybody has tasted the bitter cup of adversity……
……..it has to be Jephtah!
(pause)
And when I found him in tonight’s text.......
.......something stood out to me about how he approached his life.
(pause)
And what stands out to me about him......
.......is that he seems to have the type of mindset that suggests,
“I’m willing to do WHATEVER it takes!”
(pause)
And as I examined his mindset......
I thought about all of the adversity that he has experienced.
And I said to myself.......
It seems as though the adversity that he has experienced has produced the opposite of what would be expected!
(pause)
We would think that he would not be up to the challenge of going into another battle.
But his mindset does not suggest that he is afraid to go into another battle....
.....as a matter of fact
.....his mindset suggests that he has learned to Master his Adversity!
(pause)
Its almost as though he has made a concscious decision that says.....
I refuse to allow my adversity to pull me out of my own story!
(pause)
Listen to the text Freedom......
The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down over you!”
According to the text......
The men of Ephraim have showed up late to the battle...
.......and allowed their pride to get in the way......
(slight pause)
Because.....
.......they are dissapointed in the fact that Jephtah has gone into a battle without calling them first.
And according to the text......
......they got so vexed with Jephtah that they threatened to burn the man house down!
(pause)
Now I don’t know if they just talking or what......
But those are some strong words to be throwing around!
(pause and expound)
And now let me show you something that really kind of threw me for a loop........
.......when I began to understand the mindset of these Ephramite soldiers.
Because.....
.......the reason they didnt want Jephtah to go into battle without them
.....is because they saw him and the Gileadites that he was leading as insignificant,
.......or too small to go into a war on their own!
(pause)
But what I love about Jephtah is the fact that.........
......he does not allow how others think about him determine how he thinks about himself!
And Freedom I came to tell somebody.......
You can’t be walking around life with a mindset of insignificance....
......just because someone else thinks you are too small for your battles!
(pause)
That’s how FEAR gets started!
(slight pause)
........somebody else tells us what we cannot be
......or what we cannot do
.....because they only see your limitations in relation to the obstacles that you have to overcome.
(pause)
But what they don’t realize.......
.......is that BIG things come in SMALL packages!
(pause)
A microscopic virus can defeat an elephant.
A computer chip the size of your fingernail can send us to Jupiter and back.
Giant Redwood trees grow from tiny seeds.
(pause and expound)
Watch the text now......
Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were engaged in conflict with the Ammonites who oppressed us severely. But when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand.
The text says....
“We were engaged in conflict”
In other words......
“We were in the middle of a battle”
And then he says.....
“While we were in the middle of a battle.........
......I called you for help
.......but you didn’t come
(pause)
Freedom.....
I don’t know if you’ve ever been in this type of situation.....
But it’s a bad feeling.......
To be getting ready to be going into a fight..........
(slight pause)
and Calling for help.........
(slight pause)
.....but NO RESPONSE!
(pause and expound)
Freedom....
......I wonder if Jephtah had a flashback when this was going on.....
(slight pause)
I wonder if.........
...........while he was under attack and getting ready to go onto the battlefield calling for help that wasn’t coming
........He remembered his adversity.......
(expound on rejection of brothers, etc.)
(pause)
And see......
......this is why I believe that mastering adversity is so important.
Because.......
.......once we start developing a mindset that declares,
“Whatever it takes!”
.....our decision making starts going to another FAITH LEVEL!
(pause)
Watch the text....
When I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hand, and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day, to fight against me?”
And.....
In my spiritual imagination I hear Jephtah saying.....
“I waited as long as I could”
But.......
when I saw that you wasn’t coming......
“I took my life into my own hands!”
(pause)
And this phrase....
“I took” means “ To establish, or to arrange, or set into place!”
And this is where I heard the Lord saying,
For those of us who are ready to master adversity......
For those of us who have waited as long as we could……..
……….and are now ready to take our lives in our own hands.
(slight pause)
This is our year of BUILDING!!
.......a year of Establishing
.......a year of arranging
.......a year of setting into place
(pause)
And I see Jephtah saying......
“Whatever it takes.......
......I know it’s going to be risky
......I know I’m moving with only those who are from Gilead
.......and I know that a battle has got to be fought
(pause)
And even with all of that........
I got a mindset that says.
“Whatever it takes!”
(pause and expound)
But.....
Here it comes........ (Repeat)
(pause)
Because the text says.......
“And the Lord gave them into my hand!”
(pause)
Watch this.......
The Ephramites said........
They were too small
They should have waited
Even made threats
But according to the text.....
God saw Jephtah going into his battle with a mindset that said......
“Whatever it takes!”
(pause)
And Yawheh handed them what nobody thought they could handle......
God gave them enough power.......
........to possess
(pause)
In my spiritual imagination.....
When God saw this......
“Whatever it takes!”
.......mindset
Elohim said..........
Let me put your victory in your hands...........!!
Freedom.......
HERE IT IS..........
(Don’t miss this.....)
The bible does NOT say.......
........that God fought the battle without their hands
The bible says that .........
God saw their mindset.....
....and decided
HERE’s the POWER you need to go with your MINDSET!
Now.......
Go WIN THIS!
And......
I don’t know who this is for..........
But........
God says,
GO WIN THIS!!!!!!!